Contoured cushion

ABSTRACT

IN A CONTOURED CUSHION HAVING A PAD AND A SEPARATE SKIN, THE IMPROVEMENT, COMPRISING STRIPS OF MATERIAL SEWN TO THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID SKIN AND FASTENED BETWEEN A CENTRAL PORTION AND EDGE PORTIONS OF SAID PAD, WHEREBY THE SKIN IS PULLED TAUT OVER THE CENTRAL PORTION OF SAID PAD AND IS CONTOURED TO THE INTERSECTION OF THE OUTER SURFACE OF THE CENTRAL PORTION OF THE PAD WITH THE OUTER SURFACES OF THE EDGE PORTIONS OF THE PAD.

March 1971 E. J. REINFELDT 3,566,423

CONTOURED CUSHION Filed Sept. 5, 1968 Figure //V V EN TOR- Edward J.Reinfe/df United States Patent Oflice 3,566,423 Patented Mar. 2, 19713,566,423 CONTOURED CUSHION Edward J. Reinfeldt, Brookfield, Wis.,assignor to Universal Oil Products Company, Des Plaines, Ill. FiledSept. 5, 1968, Ser. No. 757,669 Int. Cl. A47c 27/00 US. Cl. 5345 1 ClaimABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to an improvement in acontoured cushion having a pad and a separate skin, the pad having acentral portion bounded by edge portions, the outer surfaces of whichslope down to and intersect the outer surface of said central portion.More particularly, the improvement is a strip of material attached tothe under side of said skin adjacent to the intersections of the edgeportions with the central portion of the pad. The strip of material isfastened between the edge portions and the central portions of the pad,preferably by an adhesive.

Heretofore cushions having separate skins, or coverings, have for themost part been constructed in two forms. In one form, a cushion has asubstantially convex outer surface. The skin may then be stretchedtaught over the substantially convex surface of the pad so that the skinfollows the surface contour of the pad. This form of cushion, whileproviding continuous contact between the outer pad surface and theunderside of the skin, has the disadvantage of a substantially convexshape, and is not readily adaptable or conformable to a human figureresting thereon.

The other form of cushion is a conventional contoured cushion in whichthe pad is contoured to the shape of a human figure and is readilyadaptable thereto. The problem inherent in this cushion, however, isthat though the pad is contoured to a human shape, continuous contactbetween the pad and the covering skin is not maintained. Instead, airpockets tend to form between the pad and the cushion skin, and foldstend to occur in the cushion skin to the extent that the comfortableeffect derived from contouring is destroyed. To prevent this, aconventional contoured cushion is equipped with devices such asupholstery buttons which may be tied to an internal member of thecushion, such as a spring or frame, or to other upholstery buttons onthe opposite side of the cushion. A modification of this arrangementemploys upholstery buttons with shanks extending therefrom through thecover and sometimes into the pad underneath. The shanks employed arecomprised of two legs which are spread apart underneath the cushion skinand are thereby held in place by the frictional forces of the cover andsometimes the pad against the legs of the shanks. While eflfecting thedesired contact of the cushion skin, or cover, against the pad,upholstery buttons frequently tear loose from their attached positions.When this occurs, the problems of air pockets between the skin and thepad, and wrinkling of the cover again recur. In addition, the missingupholstery buttons create an unsymmetrical and aesthetically disruptiveappearance in the cushion.

It is an object of this invention to provide a cushion comprising a padand separate skin, or cover, wherein the skin is held in continuouscontact with the outer surface of the pad and follows the contour of thepad.

It is a further object to provide a cushion which is contoured withoutthe use of surface attachments to the cushion, such as upholsterybuttons, which disrupt both the appearance and the comfort of thecushion.

While the primary uses of contoured cushions involve the seating andback support of human beings in furniture and in vehicle seats, thisinvention includes, but is not restricted to these uses and may havefurther uses in such applications as cushioning freight, pillows,hassocks, cushioned railings, vehicle dashboards, headrests, ve

hicle ceilings, and in any other use utilizing a cushion having a padcovered by a separate skin.

In a broad aspect this invention is, in a contoured cushion having a padcovered by a separate skin, said pad having a central portion with anouter center surface bordered by edge portions, the outer surfaces ofwhich strips of material being fastened between said central portion andsaid edge portions of said pad. The outer surfaces of the pad portions,to which reference is made, are the contoured surfaces.

While the benefits to be gained from the use of this invention are mostpronounced in cushions in which the entire surface of the centralportion of the pad is substantially convex, the invention may be appliedsuccessfully to cushions in which the center surface of the pad iseither flat or slightly concave.

One feature of the preferred embodiment of this invention, is that thestrip of material attached to the underside of the outer skin surface issewn to the aforesaid skin and is composed of the same material as isthe aforesaid skin. This embodiment may take several forms. In one form,the strip of material is a separate piece of material altogether and isattached to the skin only by the thread used to sew it thereto. Inanother form, the strip of material is obtained by sewing a fold intothe underside of the skin covering the cushion. In this case, the stripof material is an integral part of the skin of the cushion and isseparated from the balance of the skin only by the sewn seam. Thislatter modification has the added feature of providing a seam which isnot visible from the outside of the cushion.

Often the strip of material used in this invention is fastened by anadhesive to the central portion and the edge portions of the pad. Whileany form of fastening means may be used, such as attaching the strip ofmaterial to an internal frame or spring in the cushion, the mosteconomical manner of fastening is with an adhesive. The term adhesive asused herein, includes any substance which when contacting two surfaces,joins the surfaces to each other. This joinder may be effected by theformation of polymeric or intermolecular or other bonds in the adhesivesubstance. Common adhesives used for this purpose are glue, andsubstances containing resins or rubber.

In one embodiment of this invention, the pad comprising the cushion ischaracterized in that the central portion and the edge portions of thepad are each separate structures. In another embodiment, however, thecentral portion and the edge portions are parts of a single struc tureand may be defined by slits in the structure extending only partiallythrough said structure at the intersections of the outer surfaces of theedge portions with the aforesaid center surface. In both instances,either the adjacent surfaces of the central portion and the edgeportions of the pad are coated with adhesive, or the strip of materialis coated on both sides with adhesive, or some or all of the aforesaidsurfaces are coated with adhesive prior to insertion of this stripbetween adjacent portions of the pad.

The features of this invention are further illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional perspective view of one embodi ment of theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevational view of another embodiment of thisinvention.

Referring now to FIG. 1, contoured cushion 1 is comprised of apolyurethane pad 2 covered by a separate polyvinylchloride skin 3. Pad 2has a central portion 4 and an edge portion 5 extending partway aroundthe perimeter of central portion 4. The outer surfaces of edge portion 5slope down to and intersect the outer or center surface of centralportion 4. Pad 2 is a single structure with a slit 8 in the contouredsurface, that is the outer surface of the pad, at the intersections ofthe outer surfaces of the edge portion 5 with the central portion 4.Slit 8 extends only partway through the thickness of pad 2 and definesthe division between central portion 4 and edge portion 5. To skin 3 issewn a polyvinylchloride strip 6 on the underside of skin 3. The seam 7formed by sewing is positioned adjacent to the slit 8 at theintersections of the surfaces of edge portion 5 and central portion 4.

In constructing cushion 1, strip 6 is sewn to skin 3 prior to coveringpad 2 with skin 3. After strip 6 is attached to skin 3, the center ofskin 3 is positioned adjacent to the center surface of central portion4. Both sides of strip 6 are coated with glue and strip 6 is insertedinto slit 8 so that the center of skin 3 is snugly in contact withthe'center surface of central portion 4. The peripheral portions of skin3 are then wrapped snugly around edge portion 5 and are overlapped andjoined together by an adhesive at the underside of pad 2.

The contoured cushion 1' depicted in FIG. 2 differs from that embodimentof FIG. 1 primarily in that the pad of cushion 1' in FIG. 2 is comprisedof central portion 4 and edge portions 5, each of which is a separatestructure. Edge portions 5 and central portion 4 meet at interfaces 8'.Interfaces 8 extend throughout the surfaces of contact of edge portions5' with central portion 4'. Also, in FIG. 2 each edge portion 5' extendsonly in a single dimension whereas the single edge portion 5 of FIG. 1extends partway around the periphery of central portion 4. In addition,strip of material 6 is obtained 4 by sewing a fold into the underside ofskin 3. Strip 6' is thereby an integral part of skin 3' of cushion 1 andis defined from the balance of the skin by the sewn seam 7'.

In constructing cushion 1', the center of skin 3' is first positioned incontact with the center surface of central portion 4. An epoxy resin isthen applied to the surfaces of central portion 4 and edge portions 5which form interfaces 8. Strips 6 are inserted between these surfacesand extend partially down the interfaces 8'. The peripheral edges ofskin 3' are snugly wrapped over edged portions 5' and are cemented tobase pan 9, to which the underside of central portion 4' is alsoattached.

This invention shall not be construed as being limited to theembodiments described herein, as this invention is applicable to avariety of materials, shapes, and constructions of contoured cushions,and to a variety of different kinds of skins, pads, adhesives, andstrips of material.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a contoured cushion, means for securing thereto a separate,covering skin, said cushion comprising a pad having a central portionprovided with an outer center surface, upwardly extending edge portionshaving outer surfaces which slope down to and intersect said centersurface, said central portion and said edge portions forming parts of asingle structure, said means comprising strips of material attached tothe underside of said skin adjacent to the intersections of said edgeportions with said center surface, closed slits in said structure at thesaid intersections extending only partially through said structure, saidstrips of material being positioned Within said closed slits and beingadhesively joined on each side, to the respective side Walls of saidslits to thereby secure said skin to said cushion without any additionalretention means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,109,652 3/1938 Sallop et al297253 2,240,077 4/1941 Lieberman 5355 2,921,403 1/1960 Cunnington5345UX FOREIGN PATENTS 1,208,146 9/1959 France 297226 KENNETH DOWNEY,Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 297458

